TOKYO
\nBritain has bagged victory at the world\u2019s first litter-picking world cup in Japan after collecting 57kg of plastic bottles and cigarette butts from the streets of Tokyo.
\nA prize distributing ceremony for the \u201cSpoGOMI World Cup 2023\u201d final, in which teams pick up as much rubbish as possible in a set amount of time, was held at the United Nations University, on Wednesday.
\nTokyo\u2019s well-kept streets may not be the most obvious place to do it, but competitive litter-hunters sifted through the Japanese capital in their first world championship.
\nThe Spogomi World Cup saw 21 countries battle it out to collect the most rubbish within a set time limit, scouring the streets in search of plastic, cigarette butts and other trash. Spogomi founder Kenichi Mamitsuka started to pick up litter on his morning runs and realised that setting targets could turn it into a fun activity.
\nHe organised his first competition 15 years ago, taking the title from the words \u201csport\u201d and \u201cgomi\u201d \u2014 Japanese for rubbish. He said watching the event\u2019s maiden world championship was \u201clike a dream\u201d, but he optimistically believes it can grow to an even bigger scale.
\n\u201cIf you form national spogomi associations, my ambition is that it could become an Olympic demonstration event,\u201d he said in front of a portion of the almost 550 kilos (1,200 pounds) of rubbish collected by participants.
\nArmed with gloves, metal tongs and plastic rubbish bags, each team of three roamed a roughly five-square-kilometre (two-square-mile) collection area in Tokyo\u2019s bustling Shibuya district. Running, ransacking existing litter bins and shadowing other teams were all forbidden, with each team followed by a referee to enforce the rules.
\nIn both of the morning and afternoon sessions, they had 45 minutes to hunt out rubbish and another 20 to sort it into categories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TOKYO Britain has bagged victory at the world\u2019s first litter-picking world cup in Japan after collecting 57kg of plastic bottles and cigarette butts from the streets of Tokyo. A prize distributing ceremony for the \u201cSpoGOMI World Cup 2023\u201d final, in which teams pick up as much rubbish as possible in a set amount of time, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-369897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n